Intervention Blog

As we enter 2018, I want to send this letter to our friends, colleagues, and community partners. It is my belief that the addiction treatment field will be revolutionized this year by those of us who do the “right thing for the right reason.” A lot of unethical behavior has been addressed already, and a…

Of the nearly 22 Million Americans who suffer from substance use disorder, only a fraction of them will seek the proper treatment at a certified facility this year. Though the numbers are submitted anonymously and kept out of public eye, the rough estimate of people who sought treatment in the year of 2017 numbered close…

People with experience in addiction health, or addiction in general, would agree there are certain stigmas attached to the word addict. The sad fact of life is that an addiction rarely affects just those who are actively using or drinking. The addict’s inner circle see’s the shame in the person and almost always immediately associates…

In 2013, The Oregonian covered a five-part series on state-sponsored gambling in the state of Oregon. This is due in part because the state lottery had noticed a decline in revenue and hired a team of consultants to study the gambling habits of local Oregon residents. That way, they could gather the information they collected…

It is a sad fact of life that with denial plus the use of harmful substances, the addict is usually the last person to realize that they have a problem. Additionally, this makes them the last person to accept the fact that they need help with their addiction. This acceptance comes from immediate family, or…

When we examine addiction, we often times are looking far beyond use, and rather noting on key behaviors exhibited by the individual. With this frame of mind, we allow ourselves a new perspective on addiction in general. We do not limit our scope to just substance abuse, but rather on harmful behaviors. This proves to…

Many individuals involved in substance abuse treatment and prevention, as well as uninvolved citizens across the nation, familiar with the popular television series featuring formal interventions on substance abuse. For those that are not, this series highlights the process of arranging and executing a formal, Johnson model intervention. Intervention Continuing Care What this television show…

According to statistics presented by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), research indicates that the rate of college students who use marijuana on a daily basis has more than tripled in the past 20 years. The data, collected in 2014, identifies the current rate of 5.9% of daily users of marijuana. This now outweighs…

Our society in America has this generally accepted conception of the ‘perfect family’ or the ‘perfect life’. Often times we look at other people and their families and think: I wish I was as strong as them. I wish my family lived in that house and got to go on that vacation. We live in…

It is common conversation in the communities of 12-step recovery that sobriety and recovery are two very different things. To those of us in recovery, it’s fairly easy to distinguish one from the other. To the uninformed family member of an addict, however, confusion often arises at the differences of these two concepts. It has…